Irregular warp feed mechanism



1964 E. J. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,160,177

IRREGULAR WARP FEED MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 10, 1963 FIG. la

E i i mun INVENTORS. EDWARD J. WILLIAMS ROBERT A. TEAGUE BY LESTER W. CALDWELL s. W W- ATTORNEY D 1964 E. J. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,160,177

IRREGULAR WARP FEED MECHANISM Filed May 10, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

FIG. lb

INVENTORJ'.

EDWARD J. WILLIAMS 7 ROBERT A. TEAGUE BY LESTER W. CALDWELL HPW W A TTQRNE Y Dec. 8, 1.964 5.. J. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,160,177

IRREGULAR WARP FEED MECHANISM Filed May 10, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3

FIG. 6

INVENTORJ.

EDWARD J. WILLIAMS ROBERT A. TEAGUE LESTER W. CALDWELL ATTORNEY 1964 E. J. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,

IRREGULAR WARP FEED MECHANISM Filed May 10, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 8

INVENTORS.

EDWARD J. WILLIAMS ROBERT A. TEAGUE BY LESTER W. CALDNELL ATTORIIVEY United States Patent Ofilice 3,160,177 Fatented Dec. 8, 1964 3,160,177 IRREGULAR WARP FEED MEEHANISIVI Edward .I. Wiiiiams, Spartanburg, Robert A. Teague,

Greenviiie, and Lester W. Qaidweii, Taylor's, S.C., as-

signors to Southern Machinery Company, Greer, S.C., a

corporation of South Carolina Fiied May It), 1963, Ear. No. 279,442 3 Claims. (Cl. 13924) This invention relates to irregular warp feed mechanism.

An object of the invention is to provide control mechanism in the nature of an attachment for existing or new 7 looms, and having for its principal purpose the coordinating, stopping and starting of the warp beam let-off and cloth take-up roll so that the loom is rendered much more flexible in operation and can weave regular cloth of various novelty cloths, terry cloth and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a control attachment for looms which may be operated by the looms dobby head in some instances or by foot pedal means on the loom, the invention being adapted for use on either a dobby equipped or cam loom. When the invention is used in conjunction with a loom having a dobby head, the loom let-off and cloth take-up motions may be caused to start and stop simultaneously in accordance with any desired pattern of operation so as to produce a variety of novelty weaves or a regular weave. When the invention is under control of a foot pedal means at the front of the loom, the weaver may operate the loom one pick at a time and stop the let-off and take-up motions, thereby preventing feeding of the warp yarns. This latter arrangement is advantageously used for the removal of broken picks or filling which has been placed in the incorrect shed and for matching picks, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a control attachment for looms which may be installed on new or existing looms with economy and without the necessity for altering the basic loom structure and with only a minor addition of mechanism to the conventional let-olf motion.

Another object is to provide loom control mechanism which is highly simplified in construction and operation, very efficient, sturdy and durable, and easy to install and maintain.

The invention is particularly applicable to looms having a positive type let-01f for feeding the warp yarns from a beam under constant tension and constant linear velocity, such as the let-off disclosed in United States Patent 2,786,491, issued March 26, 1957, to J. 0. Hunt. The disclosure of the Hunt patent is incorporated fully herein by reference hereto and therefore forms a part of the disclosure in this application.

This application also contains subject matter in common with prior copending application Serial Number 113,435, filed May 29, 1961, for Control Attachment for Loom Let-lf Mechanism, Edward I. Williams, inventor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed desription.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE la is a side elevation of a 100m equipped with the control mechanism and let-oif motion according to the 38 on the shaft 18 is disp osed between the gear 20 and FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the invention as seen in FIGURE 1!),

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken approximately on line 33 of FIGURE 1a,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a vertical section taken on line 66 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on line 77 of FIGURE 1a, and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentray side elevation of the loom and the invention mechanism in accordance with a modification having foot pedal means for operating the invention mechanism manually, and

FIGURE 9 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a loom dobby head used for actuating the control mechanism of the invention according to one embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown preferred embodiments of the invention, attention being directed first to FIGURES la to 7 and FIG URE 9 of the drawings, the numeral 1t? designates one loom side, at the rear of which the loom beam 11 is supported between the side 10 and the opposite loom side, not shown. The arbor 12 of beam 11 is journaled on brackets 13 attached to the loom sides in a conventional manner.

The warp let-off motion in accordance with the mentioned Hunt patent includes a vertical plate 14 which has ribs 14a along its vertical edges, and an opening for receiving the cylindrical end section of a projection 15a, FIGURE 7, forming part of a bracket 15 which is bolted to the loom side 10. The plate 14 is secured in the desired angular relation to the bracket by screws 14b extending through a flange on the plate and bearing against the bottom of projection 15a. The plate 14 is provided near its upper end with cars 16 and 17 containing bearings for a let-oh input shaft 18 having a hand wheel 19 rigidly secured thereto at one end.

At its other end, a Worm gear 20 according to a feature of the invention is mounted rotatably on the shaft 18 and has a hub 21 provided with V-shaped clutch teeth 21a, adapted to mesh with corresponding internal teeth 22a of a let-back clutch element 22, keyed at 2217 to the shaft 18 and shiftable axially thereof in a manner to be described. This construction is best shown in FIGURES 4-6.

A. let-back nut 23 having a screw-threaded bore 24 has'adjustable screw-threaded engagement with a screwthreaded extension 25 of input shaft 18 of the let-off motion, and the nut has an integral cup extension 26 engageable loosely over the outer hub end 27 of clutch ele ment 22, FIGURE 6. The hub extension 27 has a recess 28 facing and communicating with the interior of cup 26, and a compressible coil spring 29 surrounds the input shaft 18 and has its ends bearing against clutch element tension of the spring 29 may be varied through a considerable range by turning the nut 23. The spring 29 tends to maintain the clutch element 22 in coupled or driven relationship with the worm gear 20 so that rotation of the loosely mounted worm gear is transmitted to the input shaft 18 at desired times during the operation of the loom. As Will be described, 'means' are provided to un-.

couple. the clutch. element 22 from Worm gear 20 at' certain desiredtimes so that'the continuously driven gear 20 will be disconnected'from the input shaft 18 and will not turn the same during loom operation. A spacer ring the ear in, FIGURE 6, to prevent axial movement of the gear 2% away from clutch element 22.

The gear 29 is in continuous mesh with and continuously driven by a worm 31 carried by a shaft32 held in a bearing bracket 33, adjustably mounted upon the plate 14 exactly in accordance with the description in the Hunt patent. The shaft 32 carries a sprocket gear 34, connected with and driven by a chain 35, engaging a sprocket 7 gear 36 carried by the cam shaft 37 of the loom, FIG- URE 1a.

A pair of coned discs 38 and 39, FIGURE 1a, are mounted on shaft 18, with the disc 38 secured fast to the shaft 13 and the disc 39 having splined engagement with the shaft, 50 as to be shiftable toward and away from the disc 38, while rotating with'the shaft 18. A ball thrust 81 of parallel shoe 82, carried by the loom rocker shaft.

bearing 40 surrounds the shaft 18 and abuts the hub of I coned disc 39. A lever 41 pivoted at 42 to plate 14 has a yoke 43 at its upper end straddling shaft 18 and engaging one side of thrust bearing 4% to shift the same and the coned disc 39 toward the companion disc 38. The bearing 40 has a guide pin means 44 in accordance with the teachings of the mentioned Hunt patent to prevent rotation of the bearing 40 with the input shaft 18.

The let-off motion has a lower output'shaft 45 journaled within bearings 46 and 47 on plate 14 adjacent the lower end thereof. The output shaft carries coned discs 48 and 49, the disc 48 being fast on shaft 45 while the disc 4? is splined thereto so as to be shiftable toward and away from the disc 48 while rotating with the output shaft 45. A ball thrust bearing 50 on shaft 45 engages the hub of coned disc 49 and this bearing is engaged by a shifter yoke 51, adjustably mounted by a lever 52, pivoted to the plate 14 at 53 in accordance with the teachings of the Hunt patent. The top of lever 52 is pivotally connected with an adjustable length link 54 having one end thereof engaging the lower end of lever 41 opposite the yoke 43 as fully described in the Hunt patent. The discs 38 and 39 constitute an adjustable driving pulley connected by a transmission belt 55 with the adjustable driven pulley formed by the discs 48 and 49, FIGURE 1a, all shown and described in the Hunt patent. e I

Output shaft 45 carries a worm gear 56, FIGURE 1a, meshing with a worm wheel57 loosely mounted on a let-off shaft58, mounted in bearings 59 of the bracket 15. Let-off shaft 58 also carries a pinion gear 69 meshing with and driving a large gear 61 secured to the flange 62 of warp beam 11. The gear 57, FIGURE 7, is loose on let-off shaft 58 and has a hub provided with teeth 63 adapted to mesh with teeth on a sleeve 64 splined to the shaft 58 and movable axially thereon under influence of a hand wheel 65, as shown in the Hunt patent. A spring 66 between the sleeve 64 and the hub of gear 57 tends to urge the gear against a spacer 67 on let-off shaft 58 between the gear and the end of projection 15a. The gear hub with teeth 63 and the sleeve 64 with its mating teeth form 'a clutch by which the gear 57 may be connected to and disconnected from let-off shaft 58 in accordance with the teachings of the Hunt patent.

A sheet of warp yarns Y leaving the beam 11 pass upwardly and over a'whip roll as mounted in arms 6d on across shaft 70 having an arm '71 rigidly secured thereto. The free end of this arm is connectedwith a tension link The lay swords of the loom, not shown, are mounted upon the rocker shaft and oscillate therewith'in the direction of the arrows, FIGURE 1!), and this oscillating movement is transmitted through the link '79 to the lower end 83 of take-up pawl 84, pivoted to the loom a t-85 and engaging the stepped teeth of take-up ratchet wheel 86 as indicated at 87. Each oscillation of the take-up pawl 84 therefore advances the cloth take-up roll circumferentially a distance equal to the spacing between two adjacent teeth of ratchet wheel 86. A hold back pawl 88 pivotally mounted upon the loom side it at 89 rides over the teeth of ratchet wheel 86 and prevents retrograde movement thereof after each stepped advancement of the ratchet wheel by the pawl 84. The construction and mode of operation of this pawl and ratchet drive and holding means is conventional and well-known in the art and need not be described in greater detail. In the normal operation of the loom, the clothtake-up roll winds up the cloth continuously as it is woven in properly timed relationship with the let-0E motion and the other operating components of {the loom.

A control cable 90, FIGURES la and 111, has one end connected to an arm extension 91 of take-up pawl 84 and extends rearwardly about a suitable guide and securing means 92 on the loom side 19 and then upwardly for connection at 93 with a crank arm 94 carried by a rock shaft95 journaled upon a fixed bracket having shaft bearings 97, FIGURE. 1a. An arm 98 on one end of rock shaft 95 is connected with a cable 99, leading over any desired system of pulleys, not shown, and leading to the conventional dobby head 109 of the loom shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 9. As shown in FIGURE 9, the control cable 2 9 is secured to a dobby jack 101 of dobby headlilil and movement of this dobby jack in response to the usual pattern mechanism causes the cable 99 to turn rock shaft 95 within bearings 97. Another 7 arm or crank 102' rigidly secured to shaft 95 is connected extension 107 of a shifter-ring 1% carried by an arm ex- 72 having its lower end connected with a pivot- 73 carried end of link77 isconnected toa tail 78 on lever'41, as

shown in the mentioned Hunt patent, FIGURE 1 a.

The mode of operation of the described let-ofi motion tension 109 .hingedly secured on a vertical axis at 110 to a. bracket 111 above the let-off input shaft 18. A depending extension 112 on bracket 111 is securely bolted at 113 to the main plate 14 of the let-ofi motion; Another bracket 114 bolted at 115 to the bracket 111 extends above the shaft 18' and carries the, guiding and holding means MP5 for cable 104 as depicted in FIGURE 1a.

The vertical part 116 of bracket 114 is suitably attached to the adjacent loom side 10.

The shifter ring 108, FIGURES 3-6, has a pair of rivets 117 projecting from one face thereof in'opposed relation to an annular radial flange 113 on shiftable clutch element 22; When the ring isdrawn by cable 104 tofor the beamilll is fully described in the Hunt patent and V on the warp yarns Y transmitted through whip rolled and tension link 72 to the movable pivot 73' 'on'counterward the clutch element 22, FIGURES 4 and 6, the ring will pivot onthe'vertical axis of pivotbolt Hi and the heads of rivets 117 will engage the flange 118 and shift "the element 22 away from coupling engagement with worm gear 20 and separate the normally coupled teeth' 21a and 22a of these elements. The spring .29 will re- I turn the clutch element 22 automatically into'coupling' I engagement with the gearZtl upon the release of tension This mechanism through the or pull by cable 104. It may thus be seen that the let-01f shaft 58 may be caused to stop at any time during loom operation by dictation of the dobby jack 101, operating cable 99 to turn rock shaft 95, in turn pulling on cable 104- connected with shifter ring 108. Re-engagernent of clutch element 22 with gear 20 by spring 29 immediately causes the let-off shaft 58 to again turn for feeding the warp yarns Y. The ring 108, FIGURE 6, loosely surrounds the hubs of'gear 23 and clutch element 22 and is spaced therefrom to allow swinging of the ring. A vertical adjustment slot 119, FIGURE 5, is provided so that the bracket 111 and the shifter ring may be adjusted relative to the shaft 18 and properly locked in position by the means 113.

Simultaneously with the operation of the let-back clutch 22 by the cable 164 and associated elements, the cable 90 will be pulled byturning of the rock shaft 95 in response to a movement of the same dobby jack 101. When this occurs, the take-up pawl 84 will be lifted at 87 from the teeth of take-up ratchet wheel 86 to arrest the turning of the ratchet wheel and the take-up of cloth, at the same time that the feedingof warp yarns by the letoff motion is arrested. Therefore, according to the control mechanism of the invention, both the warp let-off motion and the cloth take-up motion are rendered active or inactive simultaneously under the dictates of the dobby head or pattern mechanism to permit either the weaving of regular cloth or terry cloth or other novelty cloths.

When the letotf motion and the cloth take-up motion are thus rendered inactive by the control cables 104 and 90 as above-described, the loom rocker shaft and the cam shaft 37 and the worm gear 20 may all continue to turn and do, in fact, turn without effecting feeding of the warp yarns Y or winding up of the woven cloth at the front of the loom. At this time, the well-known selvage motion, not shown, of the loom can continue to operate and the shuttle may place filling in the shed of the fabric and simultaneously selvage picks of filling can be placed in the same shed before the warp is again advanced for normal weaving. This particular arrangement produces fabric having what is commonly known as filling cram stripes in the areas of the fabric woven while there is no'feeding of the warp. Various other types 'of novelty fabric may also be woven by means of the invention on a loom otherwise constructed to produce a normal weave and without any essential constructional change of the basic loom mechanism. All of this is accomplished by the simplified let-back clutch element 22 and associated parts connected with the let-off motion and the correspondirig control means for the take-up pawl 84 and associated parts.

In FIGURE 8, a modification of the invention is illustrated, wherein the identical let-off of the Hunt patent and the identical cloth take-up motion are employed but these elements are not under automatic control of the dobby head 160 employed in the prior form of the invention.

The control means for the loom shown in FIGURE 8 is essentially the same in principle as in the prior embodiment, however, the operation of the let-back clutch 22 of the let-off and the cloth take-up motion is under direct manual control of the operator through the use of a foot pedal, to be described, on the front of the loom. This scheme allows the weaver to operate the loom only one pick at a time and stop the take-up and let-off motions at will, thereby preventing feeding of the warp yarn. When so used, the invention can 'be employed to match picks. This term means getting the proper filling in the correct shed of the harness. During starting of the loom, it is possible to get two picks into the same shed or in some cases, to get the wrong filling in the looni and it then becomes necessary to remove the undesirable picks of filling.

Of course, if the warp has moved forward during several picks before the error is detected, it is necessary to reverse 6 t the take-up and let-off motions by hand, in order to position the last correct pick at the beat up for the proper matching of picks. The invention is advantageous for the removal of broken picks of filling or filling placed in the incorrect shed.

FIGURE 8 at the left hand portion thereof shows a fragment of the identical let-off motion previously described and shown in the mentioned Hunt patent and the parts need not again be described in detail. The same worm gear 20, let-back clutch 22, clutch operating ring 1&8 and associated elements are present and operate eX- actly as herein before described. Likewise, in FIGURE 8, the cloth take-up means is essentially the same and embodies the take-up ratchet wheel 86 for operating conventional cloth take-up roll. A foot pedal is pivoted on the front of the loom near the bottom thereof in such a manner that stepping on the pedal will pull down a control rod 121, having its top end connected at 122 through a suitable linkage 123 with a rock shaft 124 upon which an arm 125 is secured. A control cable 126 has one end connected at 127 to the arm 125 and when the pedal 120 is depressed by the operator, the cable 126 will be pulled to the right, FIGURE 8, by the arm 125 and the hold-back pawl 128 will simultaneously be elevated to disengage, ratchet wheel 86. The take-up pawl 84 omitted in FIG- URE 8 for simplicity merely continues to oscillate in re: sponse to movement of the loom rocker shaft and the takeup motion is rendered inactive and does not advance or wind-up the cloth. Simultaneously with the raising of the hold-back pawl 128, control cable 126 pulls and pivots the ring 108 in the proper direction to disengage the let-back clutch 22 from the continuously turning gear 20 of the let-off motion, thereby simultaneously rendering inactive the let-off and interrupting the feeding of the warps as in the prior form of the invention. As is now obvious, depression of the foot pedal 120 renders the left-off motion and take-up motion inoperative at the will of the operator and the warp yarn will not be fed even though the loom otherwise continues to operate. As mentioned, this arrangement allows the removal of broken picks or filling and also the matching of picks without advancing the warp yarn and thereby causing undesirable spaces between the filling as it is placed in the warp. The invention in this form is useful in preventing the commonly named cloth defects known as broken picks, unmatched picks, and set marks.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may 'be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a loom, a positive type let-off motion for regulating the feeding of warp yarns into the loom and having an input rotary shaft and a let-off rotary shaft and variable transmission means interconnecting said shafts and operable to feed the warp yarns under substantially constant tension and constant linear velocity regardless of the diameter of the loom beam, a gear loosely mounted upon said input shaft of the let-off motion, gearing continuously engage the latter and disconnect. it from said gear so that the input shaft may be tie-activated during continuous loom operation to arrest the feeding of warp yarns into the loom, a cloth take-up motion on said loom operated by the loom rocker shaft during loom operation to ac cumulate cloth woven'in the loom and including a pivoted take-up pawl and a ratchet wheel to he engaged by said pawl, a loom dobby head having a jack, and control means interconnecting said jack, shifter and take-up pawl and operable in response to movements of the jack to move the shifter and pawl simultaneously in directions for simultaneously dc-activating the let-01f andtake-up motions during continuous loom operation to facilitate the weaving of novelty cloth.

2. The invention as defined by claim 1, and wherein said control means is a pairof cables one each connected with said shifter and take-up pawl, guide means for said cables allowing end portions thereof to extend in spaced parallel relation, a rock shaft on the loom, arms secured to the rock shaft and connected one each with said end portions of the cables, another arm on said rock shaft, another cable connect-ed with the last-named arm, and a dobby jack on said loom connected with the last-named cable and operable to pull such cable for turning the rock'shaft.

3. In a'loorn, a let-01f motion having an input rotary shaft and a let-off rotary shaft, a gear loosely mounted on said input shaft and having a clutch part, gearing connected with said gear to turn the same continuously during normal loornoperation, a shiftable clutch element on said input shaft adapted for coupling engagement with said clutch part of said gear, resilient means normally maintaining said coupling engagement of said clutch element and clutch References Cited by the Examine r UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,062,455 5/13 Greenhalgh 139 99 1,647,234 1.1/27 La Chapelle [139-24 1,747,833 2/30 Seville 139 24 2,613,693 10/52 Jarvis 139-24 2,786,491 3/57 Hunt 139 '-11o 2,819,734 1/5s Pfarrwaller 139 110 3,010,482 11/61 White et al. 139 -24 3,072,153 1/63 Law -2 "139-25 'MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.)

RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER, 1 Examiners. 1 

3. IN A LOOM, A LET-OFF MOTION HAVING AN INPUT ROTARY SHAFT AND A LET-OFF ROTARY SHAFT, A GEAR LOOSELY MOUNTED ON SAID INPUT SHAFT AND HAVING A CLUTCH PART, GEARING CONNECTED WITH SAID GEAR TO TURN THE SAME CONTINUOUSLY DURING NORMAL LOOM OPERATION, A SHIFTABLE CLUTCH ELEMENT ON SAID INPUT SHAFT ADAPTED FOR COUPLING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CLUTCH PART OF SAID GEAR, RESILIENT MEANS NORMALLY MAINTAINING SAID COUPLING ENGAGEMENT OF SAID CLUTCH ELEMENT AND CLUTCH PART,A CLUTCH ELEMENT SHIFTER ON SAID LET-OFF MOTION OPERABLE TO UNCOUPLE THE CLUTCH ELEMENT AND CLUTCH PART OF THE 